


The Last Job

by orphan_account



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Abominations (Dragon Age), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Dalish Elves, Headcanon, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Musical References, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-12 22:25:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5683090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's almost 2000 years after the Dragon Age, after Ellana Lavellan killed Fen'Harel, and her descendant, Banrea, is hired by the crime boss known as Corypheus to protect his lawyer, Solas, despite being a hitwoman and not a bodyguard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two Cars

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to FenxShiral for all the elvish, including Banrea's name  
> Banrea means 'Pure/Clean Darkness'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas dodges death and Corypheus finds someone to protect him.

Solas exited the law firm, his bald head shining in the streetlights, and walked to his car, which was parked nearby. Before he could reach it, another car screeched past, missing him by five centimeters and he jumped back. After he was finished yelling curses after it, he started crossing the road, digging into his pocket for his keys. Which he didn’t need, since the car detonated when he finally found them. For a moment, he couldn’t move, then he got back to the side of the road, so he didn’t get run over, and he called his employer “Mr Amladaris, someone just tried to kill me by blowing up my car, a Mercedes, so send someone to pick me up.” His Boss replied “You call me Corypheus unless we’re on a secure line. I’ll pay for the car, and get you someplace to lie low for a few weeks, until I find who’s responsible.” Corypheus, ever the dramatic, then hung up. A few minutes later, a car pulled up with Gereon Alexius at the wheel and Solas climbed inside, checking his phone as the car sped to Corypheus’s base of operations.

When he finally arrived, Alexius held the doors for him as he made his way to the penthouse where Sethius Amladaris, or Corypheus sat in his office. As Sethuis’s longtime lawyer, Solas had become very well acquainted with the workings of the underworld. He was also very well acquainted with the dangers of it, but never like this. Usually it was only death threats, not actual attempts on his life. When he entered, Corypheus rose to greet him “I’ve found a place where you can lay low for a couple of days, it’s the last place our enemies would look, she’ll be more than able to handle anyone who does find you, we can rely on her not to sell us out and she’ll be able to provide some possible suspects for my investigation. The only problem is that she might be hard to persuade.” Solas nodded. Usually bodyguards didn’t like having their charges living in their houses. But the allure of cash had the tendency to override that. “Money will change that.” He said, checking his wallet was still in his pocket, but Corypheus shook his head “That won’t do the trick, I’m afraid. We’ll have to employ more drastic measures in order to get her to do it. I’ve got it handled though, Samson will talk to her. In the meantime, here’s her file on her.” He handed Solas a fairly bulky folder with a photo of a blue-haired woman with Falon’Din’s vallaslin. Her name, according to the file was Banrea Lavellan and she had left her clan at the ‘request’ of Corypheus. The folder also mentioned how she had been seen with a strange light emanating from her. She also seemed to know a great deal about the Herald of Andraste and the Dragon Age. There was no doubt about it, this woman was hiding something.


	2. Threats, Veiled or Otherwise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banrea is made an offer she literally can't refuse, and Solas goes to a safe place.

“No! I won’t do it! I’m a hitwoman, not a bodyguard!” Banrea snapped at Samson, as she cleaned her pistol “I kill people, I don’t protect them.” Samson smiled, a sight that could cause anyone with a weak stomach to vomit. “You have no choice Banrea. Corypheus has made you an offer you can’t refuse. If you accept this job, Corypheus has agreed to allow you to leave, permanently and to never bother your clan again. If you refuse this job, well, I heard that some Templars have been asking around, and they might ask the right person.” Banrea paled at the thinly veiled threat, and her hands shook, ever so slightly. Truth be told, she wasn’t feeling that great, since she had just sped through the streets in a high-speed chase with some thugs, nearly hitting someone in the process, while Ellana was yelling at her for getting seen. She was yelling at her right now, telling her to “Shoot the Bastard and be done with it!”. Sighing, she looked at the thug standing behind Samson, marvelling at how alike the two were and studying the shotgun before making her decision “I accept the job. But tell Corypheus that if he goes back on his word, I’ll put a bullet in the center of his twisted brain.” Samson nodded and left.

Once she was certain that no trace of Corypheus remained, Banrea went to the kitchen, chose a CD from her extensive collection, and put it in the CD player. As Fall Out Boy’s ‘The Phoenix’ flooded the house, she made herself a jam sandwich for dinner and ate it, focusing on the music instead of Ellana’s desperate attempts to enforce her promise to her mother to eat healthily. After that she went to prepare the guest bedroom, which Ellana tried to convince her to poison the pillow. After that she went to the center of her house and opened the vault where every bit of dirt on Corypheus was kept on a laptop, and prepared to send the laptop, along with it’s password, to the police. Once her clan was safe, she would take down Corypheus, even if she went down with him. Once that was done, she remembered to switch on the security system.

Solas peered at the mundane house as the car pulled up. As Samson opened the door he noticed the advanced security system hidden around it. As he walked towards the front door he heard ‘Centuries’ by Fall Out Boy playing inside. When he knocked on the door, she answered, one hand behind her back. “You must be Solas Harel, come in.” She stepped aside so he could come inside, but slammed it before Samson could come in. “Let me in Banrea!” he snarled through the door. “No. Go back to Corypheus. Besides, I’ve already eaten.” She replied as she put the gun she had hidden behind her back in a chest and locked it. Samson hit the door, but went back to the car and left. Banrea turned to Solas “Welcome to the Vir'abelasan.”


	3. If we do not learn from our past...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two hit-woman for two different crime bosses meet while a blonde undercover cop watches from afar and Banrea loses what Ellana gains.

__

A few days later, Banrea was picking up some groceries when a car screeched to halt next to her. After just enough time passed for to convince herself that she had annoyed the wrong guy, the door opened, and a fellow hit-woman by the name of Vivienne stepped out, clothed in her usual high-tech jumpsuit “Darling! You won’t believe the rumors I’ve heard about you!” she exclaimed, as the car sped off. “What have you heard this time? Who have I killed?” Banrea replied, smirking. “Well Darling, the rumors say you’re protecting a man by the name of Solas. They also say that someone’s after him.” Banrea nodded “Yeah, I know. Any idea who’s after him? The sooner they find out the sooner I get my reward.” Vivienne grimaced, a rare sight, unlike the mask of disdain she usually wore “I’m sorry Darling, but Empress Celene isn’t responsible. The only helpful information I can provide is his full name: Solas Fen Harel.” Banrea wasn’t surprised by the information provided, but Ellana was “He’s the Dread Wolf!” She cried within Banrea’s head, “History has repeated itself, as I thought it would! We must eliminate Fen’Harel!” Banrea sighed, “Thank you Vivienne, although it’s kind of obvious. Blowing up cars isn’t your style, you prefer freezing people. I didn’t know his full name, so that’s something. Could you keep looking, and contact me if anything does come up?” it was a few moments before Vivienne answered, as they had both noticed an cop who was supposed to be undercover watching them, with great interest. When she finally did reply, it could only just be considered a murmur “Of course Darling, Emperess Celene owns you her throne and her life.” With that, the two parted, and Banrea crossed one of the crime bosses off from her list. “The original Vivienne wasn’t as trustworthy.” Ellana told her “This isn’t history repeating itself. Corypheus is still a name that means something, thats why Sethuis chose it as his pseudonym.” Banrea snapped back. “Right. And everyone just _happens_ to have the exact same name. Watch yourself with Fen’Harel, that’s all I’m saying.”

Solas Fen Harel wasn’t at all surprised when Samson let himself in, and waited for Banrea to return. When she got back, he was sitting in a lounge chair she always sat in, cleaning his gun, like she always did. Naturally when she saw him the pistol was out like a shot. But she lowered it. “I saw you talking to another hit-woman today, Celene’s.” Samson said, his words drifting through the room like a ghost. “No, blowing up a car isn’t her style. She likes blasting people with ice magic. Besides, if I wanted to betray you, I wouldn’t have taught Solas to shoot. I would have just shot him.” Banrea pointed out, choosing logic over appeasing Samson and in doing so, making a huge mistake. Samson rose, “Corypheus doesn’t like it. So stop doing it.” Then everything seemed to happen at once. Banrea began to emanate a purple light from her eyes, while strands of the same light weaved onto her body. Samson cursed and Banrea spoke, only with a voice that wasn’t her own. The voice was cruel, like a stormy sea, and it sounded like it belonged to someone who would massacre anyone who was foolish enough to get in her way. Sure, Banrea’s voice was cold, but according to her file she would only kill when it was necessary, whereas the owner of this voice held no such morals. “Corypheus doesn’t like it? Ahh… Samson, I see you are still the pawn you were when I killed Corypheus. My dear Banrea is only trying to help, besides, you should be grateful I am not always in control, or everyone within your little… organization would lie dead on the ground.” Samson didn’t seem surprised by this strange turn of events “Get lost Grandma!” he yelled as he slapped Banrea, knocking her to the ground.


	4. ...We are Bound to Repeat Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas learns something new about Banrea, and a police Sergeant by the name of Roderick pays them a visit. Sound familiar?

The purple light glimmering from Banrea began to extinguish, and slowly Banrea got to her feet. “Well, at least I didn’t try to kill someone like I did last time. Or blow up a building.” She joked, despite the look of terror on Solas’s face. “What… What are you?” He forced out, as he summoned a bolt of lighting. “I am a mage, an incredibly weak one, like Inquisitor Lavellan. She didn’t use magic, but she was still a mage. Anyway, when I was sixteen, I agreed to help preserve our history. What the Keeper at the time didn’t mention was that it meant I would become an abomination, and the spirit who… merged with me was the original Inquisitor Lavellan. Thankfully, that Keeper died, of a long and painful disease, that we couldn’t cure. And when I get angry, the ruthless Inquisitor, who is utterly convinced that history is repeating itself comes out.” There was silence while Solas considered his next move. He reached for his phone “I’m calling the Templars.” Samson snatched the phone out of his hand and crushed it “You do that. You’ll have no one to protect you.” He snarled, while Banrea drew her pistol and pointed it at him. Solas considered his options “Fine. I won’t tell anyone, but I had better be paid double this month.” He told them, just as the police car pulled up outside.

“Etunash” Banrea cursed, while putting the gun away “Stay here, and stay out of sight.” She ordered while she went to answer the door. When she did, a commanding sliced through the threshold “Good afternoon, Ma’am, I’m Sergeant Roderick, of the Denerim Police Force. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask some questions.” “Of course Sergeant, come in.” Banrea held the door open and Solas could hear the sound of Roderick’s boots on the wooden floor as he entered. “What can I do for you Sergeant?” “I’m curious about how well you know Vivienne Du Fer, or ‘The Iron Lady’. You know, the personal assassin of the crime boss Empress Celene. I’m also curious as to what Corypheus’s, another crime boss, right hand man is doing in your house.” For a moment, Banrea couldn’t speak, but she soon composed herself “The Vivienne I know is good woman, not an assassin. What do you mean there’s a crime boss’s right hand man in my house?” She said, while she worked out a half-decent story to tell him. Roderick smiled “No Ma’am, I know that people like you and Vivienne call yourself hit-woman, and don’t play dumb with me. I know you work for Corypheus. I know that you are an assassin. I even know about your contacts in your fellow hit-men. The only thing I don’t know is how you all met. Do you all go out for a drink together after a successful kill? And before your boss barges through the door and kills me, there is a SWAT team waiting outside that has been ordered to kill everyone inside if I’m not out within an hour.” “Listen sergeant, these are serious claims you are making here, and I have no idea what you are talking about. I’ve never even heard of a living man **call** ed **Corypheus** ” She said, hiding a message for Samson in the last two words. Samson dialed his phone and Corypheus answered straight away. Instead of explaining the situation, Samson just let him listen to Banrea stall. The last thing Corypheus said before hanging up was “I’ll send the Dragon to take care of the Vir'abelasan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some feedback!
> 
> Etunash: Shit, Crap


	5. What Pride Has Wrought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banrea's house gets wrecked, and she calls on a friend.

The Dragon may have been a metaphor, but it suited what it was describing. The Dragon was an attack helicopter that Corypheus called in when things got too rough for him to handle. Personally, Banrea and Ellana called it cheating. “Sergeant Roderick, please, you have no right to make the accusations without proper proof.” She said, allowing herself to get just a little bit angry. Elsewhere in the house, Samson was opening a window, and starting to climb out of it, gesuring for Solas to follow “We cannot just leave her here Samson!” he hissed, stepping back so Samson couldn’t just grab him and drag him out “Corypheus is sending in The Dragon!” Samson hissed back “If we stay here, we’ll be killed!” Solas looked to the closed door that concealed them, and imagined Banrea standing in the hallway. “I don’t care! If I go, she comes with us!” Solas stayed where he was. Samson rolled his eyes, but climbed back in. “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me to-” Roderick never got to finish his sentence, Solas heard a crash and a gunshot, and after a few minutes Banrea ran in, a messenger bag swung over her shoulder, and a pistol in her hand “Come on, let’s go.” She said as she almost leapt through the window, and this time, Solas followed.

Once they were outside, Banrea lead them to a clearing in the forest. She walked over to a large bush and removed it, revealing an old, but very nondescript car, she pulled the keys out and got in, as did Solas and Samson. But, instead of starting the car, she started yelling at Samson “Do you have any idea how expensive that house was! Honsestly that’s the third house of mine that stupid Dragon has destroyed. I mean first there was Haven, then there was Adamant, now the Vir'abelasan!” She paused for breath before continuing “At least Roderick is dead now, that man caused me nothing but trouble. I’ll take you to Corypheus, then I’m going to stay at a friends place.” She sighed and started the car and the radio crackled to life, playing ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ by Bastille. Solas wanted to laugh at the irony, but instead “I’m sorry, it was my fault.” He apologized as they left the forest and headed towards the heart of Denerim.

When the boys were gone, Banrea drove to Cole’s house. Cole, unlike most of the hitmen she knew, was a vigilante, and, according to Iron Bull, a ninja. When she got there she knocked on the door and he answered “Cole, The Dragon destroyed my house, again. Can you put me up for a few days. I’ve got info you’ll like. Get Cassandra and her new partner.” She asked him, and he nodded, opening the door for her. “I’ll call Cassandra, make yourself at home.” Banrea sat in an armchair while Cole called Cassandra. A few minutes later she arrived with another cop, one she had seen before, but she couldn’t, for the life of her,remember where. “He was the cop watching you and Viv.” Ellana reminded her.


	6. Solas Holmes and The Plot For Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banrea starts her mission for payback, and Solas finally uses that brain of his to figure something out.

“I know you! You’re an assassin.” He exclaimed, before turning to Cassandra “What is she doing here!?” Cassandra rolled her eyes, while Banrea corrected him “Technically I’m a hitwoman, and I have more dirt on the Venatori than anyone, but the situation has just become much more complicated.” Now she had Cassandra’s attention “How so?” Her partner wasn’t impressed either way “First we work with a Vigilante, now we make deals with assassins.” He cried with outrage, while Ellana yelled “I know who he’s supposed to be! It’s Cullen! Be careful what you tell him, he’s a ex-Templar!” Cole stepped forward “She’s a hitwoman, and let her speak.” Banrea rose and placed her messenger bag on the coffee table “In this Laptop is all the information I have, but after I complete the job I’m currently on, I can return to my clan. Also, there’s someone I don’t want arrested, his name is Solas Harel, and I was hired to protect him. On top of that, if possible, I would like to be the one to put a bullet in Corypheus’s brain, for irony's sake.” Cassandra considered her options for a moment before nodding “Agreed. Cullen, take this back to the station. We’ll take out Corypheus.” Cullen started to protest, but a glare from Cassandra silenced him. Cole went to change into his vigilante costume while Cullen left.

Elsewhere in Denerim, Solas was sitting in the center of an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by enough thugs to defeat an army. They had just heard about the raid on the news, and The Dragon had caused quite a stir. The reporter had spent a least fifteen minutes chastising the police force for allowing an attack helicopter to fall into the hands of a dangerous crime boss. Samson had imitated the police representative’s response in a sad attempt at humor, while Solas thought about Banrea. Truth be told, she had been invading his thoughts for almost as long as he had known her, but if he wanted to state a specific time when her had first fallen for her, it would have been on the night when she produced a CD of bard songs from the Dragon Age, which, according to her, she had bought from the museum of Skyhold, where most of the songs had been recovered from. As she put it in the CD player, he had asked her why she didn’t have and smartphone to listen to the music with “I do, but if the CD’s survive, my entire clan can use them. Also, in the distant future, it’s far more likely they will last.” She had answered, while she had danced to ‘Nightingales Eyes’. After a few minutes of being content to watch her, he had gotten up and together they had ballroom-danced around the living room. When the song finished, Solas asked her where she had learnt to ballroom dance, to which she had smiled, and replied “I picked it up from a woman named Lace Harding.”. Looking back, Ellana probably had something to do with her dancing skills, which she, in turn, learnt from Scout Harding. Solas took some time to reflect on the revelation about Banrea and Ellana. In the history books, there was never any mention of an lover of any kind, let alone one named Solas. In fact, most history books painted Ellana as a ruthless hero, a rare combination. When they had discussed the Inquisition, Banrea had thought that Ellana had overreacted, that she had let her feelings get in the way. An unusual point of view. The opinion was justified, considering it was well known that Fen’Harel had worked alongside. Yet… it was so over the top to kill someone you considered a friend just because they lied to you. Unless they were more than friends. That would explain a lot. Why Banrea got so many headaches, why Ellana was so convinced history was repeating itself, why Ellana’s voice was like fifty feet of ice when she spoke. It also meant that Corypheus was in serious trouble if Ellana ever gained control over Barea’s body… and her skills.


	7. Never Anger A Hitman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solas becomes a damsel in distress, while Banrea puts her skill set to good use, joined by some trusty friends.

A black car pulled up at the abandoned warehouse, where Solas currently resided. Corypheus exited the car and entered the building. Solas stood when he saw him, only to thrown against the far wall by some red energy as Corypheus walked towards him, snarling “When Samson tells you to do something, you do it. Do I make myself clear, Solas?” Solas could only just choke out a reply “Crystal. I only wish I could say the same for my vision right now.” Corypheus laughed, and his grip relaxed, allowing Solas to slide to the floor. “Bar the doors. Prepare for an assault. Take Solas down to the basement. I heard a rumor that the ‘Spirit Of Compassion’ is planning an assault on us. Samson nodded, and half-carried Solas off to the dark and most likely dank basement.

An hour or so later, a dirty white van had pulled up in front of the very same warehouse, out of which seven people got out. The first to step out was Varric, a crime novelist who based many of his bestsellers off the exploits of his hitmen friends. He was followed by Cole, then Cassandra, both of whom had agreed not to arrest any of the criminal who had offered assistance. Vivienne stepped out next, glaring at Cassandra for suggesting they all ride in the same van. Blackwall, an under-cover secret service agent infiltrating a gang known as ‘The Grey Wardens’ nearly fell out of the van, while the Iron Bull, leader of a whole group of hitmen known as the Chargers, nearly knocked everyone over like domino’s when he got out. “For this book, we’ll need a name.” Varric commented “How does ‘The Seven Devils’ sound?” he asked, while Cassandra grunted her disapproval “Like the Florence + The Machine song?” Banrea asked “‘Cause that song is a great song!” Varric smiled, and with the name decided, they charged inside.

When Banrea went on a job, usually killed in time to music, as it was much easier to block Ellana out. So while she mercilessly slaughtered Corypheus thugs, like Ellana had all those years ago, she hummed ‘Seven Devils’. In a way, it seemed fitting. Ellana even started singing along “Holy water! Cannot help you now.” She sang as Banrea threw a grenade at an already frozen group of thugs that were blocking a doorway. “See, I've come to burn, your kingdom down.” Ellana continued as Banrea shot a man in his eye. Despite all the utter mayhem that the Seven Devils were causing, Banrea still looked for Solas, one part of her hoping he wasn’t here and another part hoping he was. When the entire warehouse floor was slick with blood, none of it belonging to the Seven Devils, the Iron Bull went and _bull_ dozed the entire basement doors down and they stormed through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I was listening to 'Seven Devils' by Florence + The Machine while I wrote this, so sorry about that. Sorry about the bull pun as well. It was far too tempting.


	8. Better Than Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cue happy ending, with the tiniest bit of fluff.

Banrea’s first instinct was to shoot Corypheus the second she saw him, but changed her mind when she saw Samson standing in the corner, his arm wrapped firmly around Solas’s throat. “Hmm,” Ellana mused “Who to kill? The Boss man, the guy who’s threatening your lover, or your future lying boyfriend.” Banrea promptly told Ellana, in her head, to shut up. Vivienne had no such trouble. She sent a shard of ice flying right into the center of Samson’s forehead, while Banrea pointed her pistol at Corypheus “Y’know, you should have kept in mind, there is nothing I do better than revenge.” She told him, firing at his head. And missing. Corypheus laughed “Is that why you couldn’t kill Empress Celene like I asked?” He was so amused by the situation that he didn’t noticed the squealing sound of gas. He only noticed when Solas threw a fireball at it and it incinerated him. But that may not count as ‘noticing’, depending on how you look at it. Sighing, Cassandra looked at Banrea “Was that deliberate?” Banrea started glowing, and Ellana’s voice was warmer when she answered “It was necessary.” When the glow faded, Banrea was humming ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark’, causing a join groan from everyone in the room. Banrea was even pretty sure she heard Samson groan, so she shot him, just to be sure.

Solas didn’t feel remorse for killing that Bastard. Creators only knew how many people’s blood was on his hands, directly or indirectly. He wasn’t happy about it, like Banrea was, but he couldn’t blame her. He was blaming her even less when he kissed her. For a moment he was genuinely scared she would go for he gun, but when she kissed him back, they both relaxed, and neither of them noticed Cassandra murmur “Get it all down, Varric. I want this in your next book.” To Varric, who nodded while he scribbled like his life depended on it, which, knowing Cassandra, it probably did. And, for once, Ellana didn’t object.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter being so short. Endings aren't my strong point.


End file.
